Demon's Crest
Demon's Crest (Demon's Blazon in Japan) is a side-scrolling platform game developed and published in 1994 for the Super NES video game console. The game is part of the Gargoyle's Quest sub-series of the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise. It was produced by series creator Tokuro Fujiwara. Story One day, six crests fell from the heavens into the demon realm, each one carrying power over the elements and even time itself. Wars were fought over them and after years of battle, one demon stood victorious: Red Arremer. Red Arremer took the crests and dropped them to the earth below, so that the Arch Demon, Phalanx could not claim them for himself. Red Arremer was then struck down and imprisoned, while the Arch Demon Phalanx, who was able to recover most of the crests, became the new ruler of both the demon realm and nearly death human realm. It is up to Red Arremer to prevent his arch enemy Phalanx from conquering all the realms and gaining the crest of infinity, thereby making himself invincible. Also, Red Arremer wants to regain his former glory and know the meaning of "True Power". Gameplay The gameplay is a mix of standard platforming, with mild RPG elements and occasional side-scrolling shooter sequences. Each level can be played multiple times, and often the player has to revisit a level with new Crests to access areas, items and bosses that he or she could not before. As you progress Red Arremer will gain more health. The player collects different Crests (Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Time and Heaven) which, when equipped during the game, allows Red Arremer to gain different abilities and alter his appearance. Also, the player can collect potions, talismans and spells. Crests Each crest gives Red Arremer, or Firebrand (as he is called in the English localization), a new form that he can access at any time: fire gargoyle (firebrand's normal form), ground gargoyle (can't fly, but can move heavy objects and send blasts along the ground), aerial gargoyle (can fly straight up, instead of only left to right like the fire gargoyle), tidal gargoyle (also flightless, but can breathe water), legendary gargoyle (does everything) and ultimate gargoyle (also does everything). Bosses Somulo - The player faces this zombie dragon at the very start of the game, in a gladiatorial arena where Firebrand is forced to fight for the crowd's enjoyment. Somulo attacks by spitting fireballs and can be damaged by shots to the head. Once it is slain, it looks as though escape from the arena is possible, but it will poke its head out for one last fight. Hippogriff - The player fights several of these throughout the game. Each is found in statue form until it is smashed. The awakened hippogriff attacks by flying into the player and firing trios of bladelike feathers. General Arma - A birdlike gargoyle bounty hunter loyal to Phalanx, players battle Arma a total of three times. Each battle he grows stronger and attacks with a greater variety of moves including energy blasts and whirlwinds. Belth - The boss of the graveyard, this large skeleton lurks beneath a field of skulls and attacks with the massive blade-arm that it also uses as a crutch. He has no projectile attacks, but can dash from one end of the screen to the other and has an impressive reach. Ovnunu - Beneath the graveyard lies a shaft inhabited by this boss. Ovnunu consists of an undulating mass of jelly filled with eyeballs and a larger, tentacled central eye. It attacks by sending out its many flying eyeballs to run into the player. When all of them have been destroyed, the core will emerge and attack by squirting acid from its pupil. Once the core is destroyed, the jelly will shrivel up. Flamelord - A being of pure fire, Flamelord can be found deep in the forest, burning everything around him. His primary form is of a stationary flaming skeleton that forms small fiery birds to send out after the player. It can dash across the screen in a cat-like shape, and eventually changes into a floating trio of skulls that drops fire everywhere. Scula - This creepy crustacean can be found in an watery grotto. It is actually two individual monsters: a "head" creature that detaches from the "body" creature to throw it around. Crawler - Crawler is nothing but a giant, shuffling heap of sloppy carrion vulnerable only in its seldom-opened eyes. It attacks by releasing two kinds of smaller zombies from the holes down its back. One variety floats and emerges on its own while the legless, crawling type is pulled out and thrown at the player by Crawler itself. It will also pound the ground to rain dangerous debris down from the ceiling. When destroyed, crawler leaves behind a small heap of miscellaneous bones. Flier - This human-faced insect flies in circles and attacks by throwing its claws as boomerangs. Holothurion - This giant water-snail doesn't move, but its breathing causes the water in the room to swirl around. Aside from pulling the player all over the place, toxic bubbles are released into the current from the creature's shell. Grewon - A feline monster with a high-pitched cry, found in both the ice palace and final level. It attacks with icy breath and by leaping. When hit, it glows green and becomes temporarily invulnerable. Phalanx - The arch demon Phalanx, presently in charge of both the human and demon realms, who almost had killed Firebrand after his fight with the demon dragon, Somulo. Phalanx used the chance to strike with an energy ball the badly hurt Firebrand, taking all the crests except the fire crest, seeing as how Firebrand was broken during the battle with Somulo. Phalanx was sure that no one could stop him in conquering all the realms and enslaving the Human World. His first form attacks with energy balls and forces the player into a water-filled arena. His second massive form doesn't move, but attacks with an assortment of deadly projectiles and only his head can be damaged. To make matters worse the player must fight this form over boiling lava, on floating platforms that repeatedly disintegrate as they collide with Phalanx's body. Dark Demon - An optional boss, and only accessible if players have collected every crest. He is Phalanx's right hand and advisor. In truth, he wants to gain the crest of infinity and conquer all the realms like Phalanx and betray him in the process. Dark Demon's primary form is that of a giant, floating skeleton that drifts around the room throwing out whirling claws. It also releases atom-like spheres that follow the player forever, and will slowly transform the walls and floors of the room into deadly spikes in his hovering, shimmering alternate form. Gallery Image:CrestSomulo.png|''Somulo'' Image:CrestHippogriff.png|''Hippogriff'' Image:CrestArma.png|''General Arma'' Image:Belth.png|''Belth'' Image:Scula.png|''Scula'' Image:CrestCrawler.png|''Crawler'' Image:CrestGrewon.png|''Grewon'' Image:Phalanx.png|''Phalanx'' Box Art and Merchandise Image:CrestJapan.png|''Japan'' Image:CrestCoverScan.png|''U.S.'' Image:CrestEurope.png|''Europe'' Image:CrestGuidebook.png|Keibunsha Guidebook External Links *BOGLEECH's page *YouTube preview *GameFAQs page *8 Bit Horse's page Category:Ghosts 'n Goblins Games Category:Horror Games